Continuous Tenses, "to continue"- continue, last. The very name of this group of tenses indicates that their main grammatical meaning is duration, the process of action.

Band times Continuous also called Progressive Tenses , and in Russian they are called continuous or long time. Verb used in the form Continuous means that an action is taking place at some specific moment. This point may be clear from the context or is often indicated by additional words - an exact indication of the time (hour), another action, etc. somehow concretizing this moment. Depending on the duration of the action, they are distinguished:

Present Continuous- present continuous (present continuous),

Past Continuous- past continuous (past continuous),

Future Continuous- future continuous (future continuous).

Scene 1 discusses examples of the use of tense The Present Continuous Tense.
Scene 5 contains examples of the use The Past Continuous Tense.
In scene 29 comparison in the use of tenses Future And Future Continuous.

Continuous Tense formed by an auxiliary verb "to be" and the fourth main form of the verb (present participle - Present Participle). The only part of the predicate that can be modified is the auxiliary verb. "to be".

Conventions used in the table:

Ving- The fourth form of the verb. Present participle ( Present Participle or Participle I) and gerund ( Gerund).

to be + Ving- “to be a doer”

In order to better understand the grammatical essence of continuous tenses, let's use the literal translation of each component:

I am working
I am working
I am working

Not working
He is working
It works

We are working
We are working
We are working

She was working
She was working
She worked

They were working
They were working
They worked

I shall be working
I'll be working
I will work

You will be working
You will be working
You will work

From these examples it is clear that the second component of continuous tenses - the present participle - gives the entire verb a sign of duration of action. It is on the basis of the duration of action that these times are contrasted to the times of the group Indefinite. Latest used to express ordinary, repeatedly repeated actions. Compare:

Where is Ivanov?
Where is Ivanov?

Not is working in his study now.
He is now working in his office.

Ivanov usually works in his study.
Ivanov usually works in his office.

Forms in Russian Continuous translated by verbs of the imperfect form of the present, past or future tense (according to the tense of the auxiliary verb).

The interrogative and negative forms of continuous tenses are formed according to the rule of the verb "to be":

I am working.
Am I working?

He was working.
Was he working?

He was not working.

Verbs that do not represent action as a process are not used in the form Continuous.

The main ones are: to accept, to belong, to contain, to consist, to depend on, to deserve, to hope, to hear, to know, to like, to mind, to please, to possess, to prefer, to resemble, to recognize, to result, to see, to understand:

I understand what you are saying.
I understand what you are saying.

I see your drawing and I like it.
I see your drawing and I like it.

The tense forms Present Simple (Simple Present) and Present Continuous (Present Continuous) belong to the group of present tenses in English language. In other words, the actions they describe take place in the present and this is what unites them. And what separates them can be found out by comparing the Present Simple vs Present Continuous tenses, which are studied in the 8th grade.

Difficulties

The English language is rich at times and this is nothing new. Some tense forms are difficult to perceive, since they have no analogues in the Russian language, others are not so difficult, since there is something to compare with. The pair Present Simple (Simple Present) and Present Continuous (Present Continuous) is quite simple, but there are nuances here that you need to know about and be able to understand them. First of all, both the first and second tense forms are translated into Russian by a present tense verb. How to distinguish them and understand when this or that tense is used - examples and rules of Present Simple, Present Continuous will help you understand.

Education

The first most obvious difference is the formation of the temporary forms in question. The Present Simple formula is one of the simplest - I, you, we, they + verb or he, she, it + verb + -s/-es. In negative and interrogative sentences, the auxiliary verb do/does comes to the aid of the verb. The Present Continuous formula is more complex - subjects + to be + main verb + -ing. As you can see, in this construction the auxiliary verb to be appears immediately in affirmative sentences, without waiting for an invitation to participate in negative sentences and questions.

Cases of use

Let's compare two sentences:

My sister usually uses bright pencils for drawing - My sister usually uses bright pencils for drawing.

My sister is using bright pencils for drawing now - My sister is using bright pencils for drawing now.

As you can see in the first sentence, the temporary form Present Simple is used, since we are talking about an ordinary, habitual, repeating event in the present. The nature of the action is also indicated by the time marker Present Simple - usually (usually). In the second case, the Present Continuous is used, since it is said about what is happening at the moment of speech, which is emphasized by the adverb now (now).

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Present Continuous can be used with the adverb always if the emotional connotation of the sentence is negative: Ted is always making many mistakes in letters - Ted always makes a lot of mistakes in letters (dissatisfaction).

Future

The following examples will help you understand one feature of the Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses - descriptions of actions in the future:

The shop opens at 9 o’clock in the morning - The store opens (will open) at 9 o’clock in the morning.

My friend is opening his first shop today - My friend is opening his first store today.

In both the first and second cases we are talking about a planned event in the future. But there is still a difference between them. Present Simple is used to denote an action that is recorded in the schedule of buses, banks, trains, shops and so on. And the Present Continuous tense is used to describe personal intentions and plans planned for the near future.

Pay attention to which verb is used in the sentence - static (denotes a state) or dynamic (denotes an action). If the verb is static (Stative Verbs), then it cannot be used in the Present Continuous (Present Continuous), and then it is necessary to use the Present Simple construction (Simple Present).

What have we learned?

Today we looked at one of the questions of English grammar - what is the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous. There are differences in formation and use between these temporary forms. After each case considered, there is a table that summarizes the above and helps sort out the information.

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English verb tenses, as a rule, fill all students with sacred horror. Still - there are as many as 16 of them! But the devil is not as scary as he is painted. We will try to explain it to you as simply as possible, especially since for starters you can limit yourself to 4 times. In today's post we will look at the Present Continuous Tense.

• To better understand English verb tenses, it is not necessary to remember their name. It will be enough to clearly know three things: 1) when the action occurs; 2) how the desired form of the verb is formed; 3) what is the auxiliary verb.

The Present Continuous Tense - Present Continuous Tense

As mentioned above, there are three main things you need to know.

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1. When does the action take place? The Present Continuous Tense denotes an action that is happening at the moment of speech, directly Now. That is, the action is indicated in the process, which is why this tense is sometimes called Present Progressive Tense.

2. How is it formed? The form of the verb in the Present Continuous Tense is formed using the verb to be (in the present tense) and. Simply put, am/is/are + verb ending in ing.

Let's look at the example of the sentence “I am writing a letter.” Before us is a sentence, the action of which is taking place at the moment - “I am writing a letter now.” The predicate verb is the word “I am writing”, and it is this that we must put in the Present Continuous Tense. Since the subject is “I,” we take the form of the verb “am” and add the ending ing to the predicate verb write. As a result, we get the sentence I am writing a letter.

3. What is the auxiliary verb? An auxiliary verb is needed to form the interrogative (?) and negative (-) forms of all tenses of the English verb and to form the affirmative (+) form of some tenses of the English verb. For the Present Continuous Tense, the auxiliary verb is to be, or rather its forms am/is/are.

In the interrogative form, the auxiliary verb comes first (Are you eating now?). In the negative form, not is “attached” specifically to the auxiliary verb (He isn’t sleeping now).

For clarity, let’s conjugate our sentence “I am writing a letter” by person in the affirmative, interrogative and negative form.

Please note that only the forms of the verb to be change depending on the person of the subject; the present participle (ING form of the verb) does not change.

Here is a translation of several sentences in the present continuous tense:

• We are drinking tea now – We are drinking tea now
• I am not reading now – I am not reading now
• Are you working now? – are you working now?
• Is he playing now? – is he playing now?
• She is not drinking coffee now – She is not drinking coffee now

Note: There are a few English verbs, which are not used in the present continuous tense, these are the so-called verbs of feeling and perception:

With these verbs, even if the action is happening at the moment, we use:

• I'm tired. I want to go home.
• Do you know that girl? - Yes, but I don’t remember her name.
• You are speaking too fast. I don't understand.

Present Continuos - read as Present Continuos, or the Present Continuous Tense is one of the most commonly used tenses in the English language. In fact, it comes in second place after (translated as Real Simple). It is used to express actions at the moment of pronouncing sentences, plans and much more.

Education Present Continuous

Education

Affirmative (positive) form of Present Continuous

Created with:

• The verb "", which is inflected depending on the person (first, second or third) and number (singular or plural) performing the action.
  The declination looks like this:

Question form Present Continuous

It seems to be created, only the word order changes. can be composed with or without a special question word.

1. If o exists, it is put in first place.
2. Then it goes in the required form.
3. Next is the semantic verb.
4. And finally, all other members of the sentence.

For example, let’s make the sentences from the table interrogative:

You see that in the last two sentences the interrogative word “what” was used, which is translated as “what?” To create interrogative sentences, you will need other common question words:

• How? (How?)
• When? (When?)
• Who? (Who?)
• Where from? (Where?)
• Which? (Which?)
• Where? (Where?)
• Why? (Why?)

Negative form

Formed by adding the particle “not”.

You can see that “is not” and “are not” have been shortened to “isn’t” and “aren’t”, which are read as “iznt” and “ant”. The reason for this is the peculiarities of the English language, where “swallowing” of vowel sounds is common.

Writing rules

The only problem that can arise with creating is writing verbs in the “ing” form. The most common way to create the Present Participle is with the infinitive form of the verb and the ending “ing”.

Here are examples of such cases:

See (see) – seeing (vision)
enter (enter) – entering (entering; entering; entry/entry)

Note: when answering the questions “What should I do?” "What to do?". But when the last letter of the verb is “e”, which is not pronounced, that letter is omitted.

Fame – faming
note (noticing) – note (noticing)
forgive (forgiving) – forgiving (forgiving)

Formation of affirmative, interrogative, negative forms Present continuous

There are also exceptions in which:

• The last one is doubled if the word ends with a consonant preceded by a stressed sound.

Examples:
run – running;
admit – admitting.
stop – stopping;
It should not be forgotten that the letter “x” is never doubled, since it conveys two “ks” sounds.

• Doubles the final "r" if it does not have a diphthong:

stir (to move) – stirring;
refer (address) – referring (addressing).

• The final "l" is doubled if it is preceded and if the stress falls on the last syllable:

travel – travelling (travel, traveling)
signal – signaling (signaling, signaling)
cancel – cancelling (cancellation, canceling, canceling)
compel –compelling (coercion, compelling, compelling)

• The ending “ie” is replaced with “y”:

hie-hying
pie – pying
delie – delaying

It is worth noting that words that end with “ing” are not always patissiple. In English they can also be nouns or even adjectives.

Here are examples:
I am swimming. - I swim (the word with the ending ing plays the role of patissiple).
Swimming is beneficial for your health. - Swimming is good for your health (plays the role of a noun and subject).
Now he is in the swimming pool. - Now he is in the pool, literally in the “swimming lake” (here plays the role of an adjective).

So if you see an -ing word, it doesn't mean the sentence is necessarily in the Continuous form. It all depends on the context.

Eat . They are divided into the following groups:

1. Verbs that show emotions: love, need, appreciate;
2. Verbs related to thoughts: forget, remember;
3. Verbs of feelings: sensations, hearing, etc.. (hear, touch);
4. Verbs denoting rights to something, possession: belong, have, possess, own;
5. Other verbs that do not belong to groups: cost, need, maintain.

Using the Present Continuous

This tense is used:

• If the action is performed at the time of conversation. In these cases, the words now (now, now), at this moment (at this moment), etc. are often used, but they are optional.

Now I am swimming. - Now I'm swimming.
At this moment she is talking. — She’s talking at the moment.

• If they do something now, but not right during the speech.

Don't this novel. Katya's reading it. - Don't take this novel. Katya is reading it.
Sam’s spending a lot of time home last days, as he’s writing a novel. Andrew spends a lot of time at home these days because he is writing a novel.

• If the action is part of the plans and the person who speaks is confident that the plans will come true. In such cases, the Present Continuous is used with verbs of motion and words indicating the future.

They're getting married in September. - They will get married in September.
We're flying to Paris in the evening. - We are flying to Paris in the evening.

• If the characteristic properties of a person are described, often with a negative connotation.

Why are you shouting at me? - Why are you shouting at me?

conclusions

To summarize, to study the Present Continuous Tense you will need to learn the basic rules for forming the Present Participle and remember the order of words in sentences. It is important to remember the verbs that are not used in this tense. If you remember all the information in this article and practice a little, you can confidently say that you understand Present Continuos.

Today we will talk about the differences in Present Simple And ) Tenses(present simple and present continuous).

Present Simple

When do we use this time? Let's look at an example and analyze the use of the simple present tense.

I live . — I live.

If we say that we live somewhere, it means that we are talking about something more or less permanent.

The simple present tense is also used to indicate actions that are always happening. For example:

The sun rises in the East. — The sun rises in the east.

Also used to describe regular actions Present Simple:

Every day I wake up up at this time. I take a shower. — Every day I get up at this time. I am taking a shower.

We'll look at the simple present tense in more detail a little later. Now we will look at the present continuous tense for comparison with the simple present.

Present Continuous (Progressive))

I am staying. — I am standing.

I am working. — I am working.

I am speaking— I am talking.

You are listening or you are writing. — You listen or write.

We use the present continuous tense to describe actions that are happening right now or for a temporarily extended period of time. Those. for example, you can say about someone that he is writing a book, he has been writing it for some time, but at the very moment he may not be writing it, but we still say: He is writing a book.

This period of time can be anything - two minutes, a week or 10 years. The main thing here is that this is not a permanent action, but a temporary one that is happening now.

In order to better understand the difference in the use of these tenses, I will give another example:

Where are you live? — I live in Canada, Toronto. — Present Simple

While you are in Toronto where are you staying? — I’m staying at the hotel. — Present Continuous

Present Simple Tense - in more detail

The “s” ending on verbs with third person nouns is very important. Many students forget about it at the initial stage.

These were examples positive suggestions. Now let's see what the simple present tense will look like in negative sentences.

More examples of sentences with the simple present tense:

He works in the office.

He doesn’t work in the office.

Does he work in the office?

They live in Toronto.

They don't live in Toronto.

Do they live in Toronto?

English Joke

Old farmer Johnson was dying. The family was standing around his bed. With a low voice he sad to his wife: “When I’m dead I want you to marry farmer Jones.”
wife: “No, I can’t marry anyone after you.”
Johnson: "But I want you to."
wife: “But why?”
Johnson: “Jones once cheated me in a horse deal!”